You Get What You Pay Attention To

There's an incongruity between time and money devoted to
leadership development and the number of articles about bad
bosses. Maybe its' time to re-visit the definition of "bad."

Here's why:

People do that for which they are rewarded. Period.

I've seen very few organizations care about bad
bosses who "make the numbers." In fact, the very people described by employees as "bad bosses" may be the very bosses who keep the shareholders happy.

We all pay attention to what our bosses pay attention to. When
people get rewarded solely for behavior that produces profit,
then that behavior becomes acceptable--even if it's bad. You can send
those folks to ten different leadership development programs that model
respectful practices. But you're still going to get the behavior that is
actually rewarded.

Comments

Steve, what confuses me is how some companies continue to reward "management" that can demonstrably be shown to be leading to lower productivity and profit. I'm speaking specifically about the kinds of managers who consistently receive recognition for such behaviours as watching their subordinates' arrival times and doing such wacky things as using a tape measure to ensure smoking employees don't stand closer than the corporation's mandated 25 feet from the entrance, or moving operations to a location farther away from their suppliers or clients (true stories). Why does exec level management reward them?

Given the examples you cited, one would have to scratch one's head in wonder.

Frankly, I don't know of anyone who gets rewarded for these things; they just aren't told to stop. Which then, over time, makes the practices even more acceptable as they become embedded in the culture.

I am on a crusade to help 'bad bosses'. I believe some are so busy doing the bosses work they forget how to lead. The way the workplace is headed with flexiblity, work life balance etc people are being less tolerant of jobs they arent passionate about - this has a lot to do with bad bosses. Workers cant be bothered working for a jerk! There shouldnt still be bad bosses in this day and age!

Kudos on your crusade...I think we should have a cape designed for you. Really.

I wrote a post on the "bad boss" thing a while back and will find it and reference it again. It was about the fact that in this day and age--with all the research, psychology, and performance data available--many bosses still choose to manage in unproductive ways. Of course, there is another factor: their bosses choose to reward them for other kinds of behavior.

Whether it's at work or in the neighborhood, who wants to spend time with a jerk?